Torah

He had been controlling himself for so long, had come so far, but he just couldn’t hold himself back anymore. Everyone else was asleep, so no one else would even have to know. Internally, he was struggling, pulled in every direction, unable to make a decision. On the one hand, there was a convincing and confident voice persuading him to do it, to give in to the urge: “If you eat it, it will feel so good!” On the other hand, there was a quieter, more subtle voice attempting to use reason and judgment. “But this is ridiculous. It’s wrong, destructive, childish, just foolish. You’ve done this before, and hated yourself afterwards; you felt disgusted, ashamed. You know that you’ll feel the very same way in about five minutes if you do it again. This has never ended well for you.” As a bead of sweat drips down the side of his cheek and he stares at the chocolate cake, he tries to weigh his options.

Imagine you wake up one morning with $86,400 in your bank account. You can’t invest or save this money, and whatever is left over at the end of the day disappears. What would you do with your $86,400? Would you leave a single penny unspent? Of course not!

HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein, Shlita, in Video Address, HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Shlita, and HaGaon HaRav Dovid Cohen, Shlita, Give Powerful Practical Guidance

It was an unforgettable scene. Thousands of bachurim, all the same age, converged on the Armanot Chen Halls in Bnei Brak to hear guidance from senior Gedolim at Dirshu’s annual “Seder Hachana” event. The upstairs floor of the hall, the downstairs floor of the hall, the streets and all the environs around the hall were full of bachurim. Those who could not get in, watched the addresses on screens. The bachurim, who are concluding yeshiva ketana and will be attending yeshiva gedolah this coming Elul, came in droves, anxious to quench their thirst for guidance, at this pivotal stage in their lives.

Gedolei Yisrael Express Joy and Excitement Over New Program

This past Rosh Chodesh Iyar, history was made in Klal Yisrael, as the Dirshu Chaburas Shas iyun kal program was launched beginning with masechta Bava Kama. This program enables avreichim to become proficient in the entire Shas with a wide-ranging knowledge of Gemara, Rashi, Tosafos and the primary Rishonim and Acharonim b’iyun. The program covers an amud a day / 2½ blatt per week, placing avreichim on a trajectory where they can complete Shas with iyun kal, in a matter of twenty years!

In addition to gaining sage advice from the Gedolim of Eretz Yisrael, the thousands of bachurim at the kinnus merited to hear words of chizuk and guidance from senior American roshei yeshiva as well. They heard from the zekan roshei yeshiva in America, HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky, shlita, who delivered an audio recording specifically for this event, and from HaGaon HaRav Yitzchok Sorotzkin, shlita, who gave over divrei chizuk via video.

There is a widespread problem that plagues humanity, leaving us lonely and disconnected. Many people live their lives in a state of ego – a state of mind in which people view themselves as isolated beings inside their own bodies, their own minds, their own worlds, alone and independent. The consequences of this state of mind are obvious: Since everyone else in the world is separate from us, we will feel disconnected from them; we will also likely feel the need to compete with them – to beat them – in order to gain self-worth, in order to convince ourselves that we’re good enough. This often means pushing others down just to feel like we’re better than them. We might even hate certain people or even go so far as to hurt them, because they don’t make us feel good or perhaps because they challenge our own self-worth. But most of all, this state of consciousness leaves us lonely, abandoned, and empty. (This state of ego also makes us feel independent and separate from Hashem, resulting in the ultimate feeling of spiritual emptiness.) However, there is another option.